Jamie Ramsey gives you an all-access pass into the world of the Cincinnati Reds

BASELINE ITEMS: “STEP IN A PUDDLE DAY”

As I mentioned on Twitter earlier today, these are the days in which a baseball blogger really has to show what he’s worth. When new or prospective bloggers ask me for advice, I always tell them to, (1) keep it fresh and (2) keep it updated. When there’s not much going on, you sometimes have to make lemonade out of lemons. Today is one of those days, so grab your glass…

The guys in the Media Relations department have pretty much sewn up the writing portion of the 2013 Reds media guide. We now have to proofread it and make corrections. This is an onerous task and probably my least favorite part of the job. But it has to be done or else the Player Development section will look like it was written by a third-grader (Player Development is my section of the media guide and I normally write it in crayon).

Anyway, after working up a pretty decent headache, I gave my eyes a break and my legs some exercise by taking a stroll this afternoon around the ballpark. After receiving a few morning showers in Cincinnati, temperatures are incredibly mild today and the sun is shining bright.

Here’s what GABP looks like today. Naturally gorgeous, huh? And that’s without makeup!

While trying to figure out what I could possibly write to you today, I noticed on my calendar that January 11 is “Step in a Puddle Day.” I’m not kidding, it says so right there. So, because my calendar told me to, I looked for some puddles in/around GABP in which to step. (Thankfully, tomorrow is NOT “Jump off a Bridge Day.”)

Here are some of the MVPs (most valuable puddles) of GABP…

Just for fun, let’s pretend I stepped in all of ’em.

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I checked my handy-dandy Redleg Journal and saw that, in addtion to “Step In a Puddle Day,” today is the 13th anniversary of Tony Perez’s election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. My dear friend Ben Otto and I drove up together to Cooperstown that summer to watch the induction ceremony. One of the best trips of my life. In addition to Tony and Sparky and Marty, Carlton Fisk was also inducted that year….and he just finished up his speech a few minutes ago. (waka, waka, waka!)

On this date in 1983, former Red and current radio personality Tracy Jones was selected in the first round of the secondary phase of the winter amateur draft.

And also on this date in 1919, the Reds nearly went out of business!

Excerpt from Rhodes and Snyder’s Redleg Journal: January 11, 1919 – Garry Herrmann informs the stockholders that the club is unable to meet its payments on debt it owes from the construction of the new grandstand in 1912 (an outlay of some $400,000). Several years of poor attendance in the mid-teens left the club unable to meet its obligations. Hoping to stave off foreclosure and to raise capital, Herrmann proposed that the Reds, then operating under the name “The Cincinnati Exhibition Company,” be dissolved and a new entity formed: “The Cincinnati Base Ball Club Co.” The stockholders essentially received nothing for their old shares, and were asked to purchase shares in the new venture to keep the club afloat. Stockholder Lou Widrig proved to be the financial savior, buying hundreds of shares in the new venture. Widrig became treasurer of the club in the 1920s.

The book fails to mention that Garry Herrmann was also forced to sell off some those extra and redundant consonants in his name in order to pay for the star players on his “base ball club.” It must have worked because the Reds went and won a very uncontroversial “World’s Series” that year.

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Speaking of construction, it continued today on Crosley Terrace and in the Reds Team Shop. Check it out…

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Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. Do me a favor and have a great weekend, will ya?! (also take advantage of some of those Reds ticket deals that are currently available on Reds.com/tickets, you won’t be sorry because 2013 is going to be a very special year for our boys and our city).

Jamie, as always you are enlightening and entertaining. As a Media Guide owner every year, I appreciate your mind-numbing efforts. Thanks, too, for the updated photos. It was, indeed, a great day for walking outside and stepping in a few puddles. Thanks so much for all your work and sharing it with us.

Just wanted to say Thank you for your wonderful Blog. I read every post, although I’ve never commented before. I’m not “on” twitter but through the Reds app I read all your posts there as well. You are a wonderful addition to the Reds team and I just wanted to say “thank you” for all that you do! Love the puddle pictures today. Made me smile!

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